Reel for metal sutures



March 7, 1950 E. THEMAK 2,499,890

REEL FOR METAL SUTURES Filed March 6, 1945 l N V E N TO R 50 14/4426THE/W4,

ATTORN EY Patented Mar. 7, 1950 REEL FOR METAL SUTURES Edward Themak,Northport, N. Y., assignor to Davis & Geek, Inc., Brooklyn, N. Y., acorporation of New York Application Marchfi, 1945, Serial No. 581,286

1 claim). (01. 206-59) The present invention relates to a reel particularly adapted to receiving a metal suture or ligature. Inasmuch asan article is a suture or a ligature dependent upon whether or not it isembedded in animal tissue, for the purpose of this application, the wordsuture hereinafter will be used to mean either or both uses.

It is customary in this art to dispense sutures of wire, such as silver,stainless steel or the like, upon reels where the former is wound on thelatter in a series of convolutions. Diificulty has been experienced inthe past in such a combination in that wherever the wire passed over asharp edge of the reel, a kink or bend was produced which interferes notonly in the proper unwinding of the suture from the reel but which has atendency to cause trauma, particularly when the filament is used as asuture in contradistinction to a ligature. Additional difiiculty isexperienced with such combinations as above in that due to the relativestiffness of the wire, the convolutions will not remain in place on thereel unless wound very tightly which in itself tends to cause bending ofthe strands as they pass over the ends or edges of the reel.

Again it has been proposed to Wind wire sutures or the like on reelshaving side wings or projections arranged to prevent accidentaldisplacement of the Wound suture from the reel but such constructionsare not entirely satisfactory in that the wire, which is of an extremelyfine gauge, tends to slip in between the body of the reel and theprojections with consequent kinking, bending r mutilation durin theunwinding procedure.

The principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to providea reel for wire sutures and/or ligatures which will not be subject tothe above difliculties and yet will be cheap, easy to manufacture andotherwise desirable.

These and other objects may be readily accomplished by making a strip offlexible material of fibre, paper, laminated for strength or not asdesired, plastics or the like, forming a receivable and receiving endportion thereon so that when the strip is folded upon itself and the twoends engaged a cylinder will be formed which may collapsed into a shapehaving a long axis and a short axis, and upon which the metal or wirefilament may be wound. By providing a perforation at two diametricallyopposed locations in the strip, each convolution of the wire may be laidin the depression formed by the perforations so as to secure the wire inplace and against accidental displacement, or without the formation ofbends or kinks. 1 i I The invention further contemplates the novelcombination, arrangement and construction of parts, more fullyhereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a strip of material from which a reel of thepresent invention is made.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the method of engaging the ends ofthe strip of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a collapsed reel showing a length ofwire suture wound thereon.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the combination of Fig. 3 showing the sutureand reel enclosed within a sealed glass tube, and

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation along the line 55 of Fig. 4.

Referring now with particularity to the embodiment illustrated, a stripis shown at l of any suitable flexible material such as fibre, paper,laminated or not for strength, fabric impregnated with stiffening agentssuch as resins or the like, or even a strip of plastic material. It isto be understood that the strip should not be made of or contain asubstance or substances which will be dissolved, softened, warped orotherwise detrimentally affected by the tubing fluid, usually xylol, orby heat or chemical sterilization as the case may be. Vegetable fibre ofthe nature of paper is eminently suited for this purpose.

As shown, the strip I is provided with an aperture 2 in one end portionand an end tongue 3 so that the two ends may be united as in Fig. 2 andcollapsed as in Fig. 3 to form a reel having a long axis and a shortaxis.

It is also desirable that apertures 4 and 5 be provided so that whencollapsed these apertures will be transformed into depressions shown at6 and 1 respectively.

With the reel in the collapsed condition, a length of wire strand orfilament 8 may be wound thereon in a plurality of convolutions. Thisstrand may have attached thereto the surgical metal 9 or not as desired.

It will be noted that due to the fact that the convolutions of thestrand lie within the depressions 6 and I, they are prevented from beingaccidentally displaced from the reel. Attention is also called to thefact that as the Wire never passes over sharp edges, the formation ofbends or kinksin the wire is definitely avoided.

Where desired, the completed reel with its wire suture may then beinserted within a glass tube 3 I0 containing tubing fluid I I, such asxylol, and the tube hermetically sealed. The suture may be sterilized asis usual in such cases.

It will be apparent that such a combination is particularly desirable inthat the wire is securely held in position against the formation ofkinks or bends and may be readily unwound from the reel when the surgeondesires to use all or a part thereof.

It is desirable that the relative dimensions of the reel be such asshown in Fig. 5 so that the edges of the reel bind against the innersurface of the tube In and prevent undue relative movement between thetubing and the suture-reel combination.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to aspecific embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not tobe limited thereto but is to be construed broadly and restricted only bythe scope of the 0 claim.

What is claimed:

In combination, a reel comprising a flat strip of flexible material bentupon itself to form rounded end portions, a perforation in each roundedend portion, the free ends of the strip being secured together, and aplurality of convolutions of wire wound thereon, parts of theconvolutions lying in the depression formed by the perforations in theend portions of the reel.

EDWARD THEMAK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,610,607 Hirsch Dec. 14, 19262,006,662 Weiner July 2, 1935 2,278,037 McIntire Mar. 31, 1942 2,344,862Funke Mar. 21, 1944 2,369,958 Fox Feb. 20, 1945

